Chapters (156)
- A DATE WITH DEATH
- Also by Mark Roberts
- A Date With Death
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- The Past
- 1977
- Day OneWednesday, 1st December 2021CatoptrophobiaFear of mirrors
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- The Past
- 1979
- Day TwoThursday, 2nd December 2021OneirophobiaFear of dreams
- 27
- 28
- 29
- 30
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 34
- 35
- 36
- 37
- 38
- 39
- 40
- 41
- 42
- 43
- 44
- 45
- 46
- 47
- 48
- 49
- 50
- 51
- 52
- The Past
- 1980
- Day ThreeFriday, 3rd December 2021MonophobiaFear of being alone
- 53
- 54
- 55
- 56
- 57
- 58
- 59
- 60
- 61
- 62
- 63
- 64
- 65
- 66
- 67
- 68
- 69
- 70
- 71
- 72
- 73
- 74
- 75
- 76
- 77
- 78
- 79
- 80
- 81
- 82
- 83
- 84
- 85
- 86
- 87
- 88
- 89
- 90
- 91
- 92
- 93
- 94
- 95
- 96
- 97
- 98
- The Past
- 1982
- Day FourSaturday, 4th December 2021ThanatophobiaFear of Death
- 99
- 100
- 101
- 102
- 103
- 104
- 105
- 106
- 107
- 108
- 109
- 110
- 111
- 112
- 113
- 114
- 115
- 116
- 117
- 118
- 119
- 120
- 121
- 122
- 123
- 124
- 125
- 126
- 127
- 128
- 129
- 130
- 131
- 132
- 133
- 134
- 135
- 136
- 137
- About the Author
- An Invitation from the Publisher
The rattle of glasses came their way from the kitchen.
‘What’s going on?’ asked Eve Clay.
Philip smiled at her.
‘A bit of a late night, Mum.’
Philip wandered into the front room, chuckling.
‘Thomas?’ she asked, as her husband walked into the hall carrying a tray with a bottle of red wine, two glasses and a can of Vimto.
‘Welcome home, Eve,’ said Thomas.
‘You’ve read my mind. Again!’
Eve Clay sat on the end of the sofa and watched Philip crouch by the gas fire.
‘What are you doing?’ she asked.
He stuck his hand into the mechanism at the base of the fire.
‘Putting the fire on.’
She looked at her husband as he poured wine into two glasses and dropped a straw into the can of Vimto.
Philip turned his hand and after a series of clicks, flames shot up from the artificial coals.
‘How long’s this been going on for?’ asked Eve.
Philip looked at his father.
‘A week ago, Dad?’
‘Yeah, about then,’ replied Thomas.
‘You’ll be telling me you’re doing online banking next!’
‘Don’t be silly, Mum. I haven’t got a bank account. Yet. Unless you want to open one for me?’
Philip sat on the sofa in the space between his parents and Eve took his hand.
‘So, how was your day, Mum?’
A thousand pictures flashed through her in a second as she looked into the flames.
‘Well… it most certainly was a day.’
She dismissed most of the images that had invaded her head and seized on the picture of Margaret Christie’s face when she saw her daughter in Trinity Road police station.
Eve raised a glass of wine and said, ‘Cheers.’
She clinked against Philip’s can of Vimto and her husband’s glass.
Tiredness came over her in a sudden wave. She sipped her wine, placed it down on the tray and looked at her son. She wrapped her arms around him and was glad to be alive.
In her mind, Eve Clay stepped back and grabbed the moment with all her being. She looked at her husband and son and made an indelible memory to store in her heart against the harsh things that lay around the next crooked corner.
She felt the weight of Philip as he sat on her lap, his arms wrapped around her neck, and wished that the world would be kind to him.
Thomas shifted along the sofa and sealed the three of them in a single embrace.
‘Whatever happens next,’ said Eve, ‘we’ve already won, boys. We’ve won big time.’
About the Author
mark roberts was born and raised in Liverpool, and was educated at St Francis Xavier’s College and Liverpool Hope University. He was a teacher for twenty years and for the past seventeen years has worked with children with severe learning difficulties. He is the author of What She Saw, which was longlisted for a CWA Gold Dagger.